Beam hanger



Nov. 23 1926. 1,608,001

J. P. RATIGAN BEAM HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 15, 1925 0 1,608,001 -J. P. RATIGAN Nov. 23 1926.

0 BEAM HANGER Filed April 15, 192 5 2 Sheets-Shee t 2 attoz may.

Patented Nov. '23, 1926.

JAMES P. RATIGAN, OF WALNUT PAR K, CALIFORNIA.

BEAM HANGER.

Application filed April 13, 1925. Serial No. 22,768.

. This invention relates to a portion of the means employed for connecting walking beams or other fulcrumed operating members to the polish rods of deep well pumps and is commonly known as a beam hanger.

An object, in general, of the invention is to effect rotation of the sucker rods so asto rotate the plunger. Such rotation tends to prevent buckling of the rods, as the twist takes up the slack, and also tends to prevent unscrewing of the rods and insures evenness of wear on the pump plunger and barrel.

Another object is to effect the rotation by a comparatively simple construction.

Another object is to insure rotation even though the stroke of the walking beam may be comparatively short.

Another object is to so construct the hanger that, if the plunger or sucker rods should be sanded up, the hanger will not rotate the sucker rods and twist them off.

A further important object is to'minimize side thrust of the polish rod in the stuflin box as the walking beam swings up and down. Ordinarily such side thrust is present to a large extent on the down stroke of. thewalking beam, as the stutfin box tends to hold the polish rod in axia? alignment with the stufling box while the walking beam, swinging in an arc, tends to move the upper end of the polish rod out of actual alignment with the stuffing box as the walking beam approaches the upper and lower ends of its stroke.

Further objects and advantages will appear in the subjoined detailed description.

The accompanyingdrawings illustrate the invention:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a beam hanger constructed in accordance with the provisions of "this invention. "A fragment of the polish rod is shown, together with the polish rod grip and the cable connecting said grip to the beam hanger. Also fragments of the operating member and its support are shown.

Fig. 2 is a View of the beam hanger corresponding to the showing in Fig. 1, but on a larger scale, a fragment of the operating member being indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of Fig. 2 from the right thereof.

Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly in section, from the line indicated by 44, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fra'gmental side elevation of a modified form of the invention, the opera'tin; member being indicated in broken lines. F ig. 6 is a fragmental side elevation of another modification of the invention.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a further modification of the invention.

Referring first to the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, there is provided a sectional stem, an upper section 11 and lower section 12. s The upper section 11 may be rigidly secured in any well known manner to the operating member, indicated at a in Fig. 1 as a walking beam, so as to constitute a downwardly projecting arm of said walking beam; or the section 11 may be mounted in such fashion that it will tend to rock slightly on the walking beam as the walking beam swings up and down. The

rocking of the section 11 on the walking beam should be more or less limited in extent, and, accordingly, in the present instance the stem section 11 is provided with ahead 13 having laterally extending flanges'with flat under faces 14 which loosely rest on-the upper face of'the walking beam. The section 11 extends through the usual slot 1) in the end of the walking beam.

The sections 11', 12 are pivotallyconnect- I ed at 15 so that as the walking beam swings up and down the section 12 will tend to remain in axial alignment with the polish rod,

indicated at 0 in Fig 1. Especially is this true on the downstroke of the pump plunger, since said plunger is automatically lowered by the weight of the sucker rods-and superposed column of liquid, and the walking beam exerts no pressure on the polish rod because of the jointed construction of and the section 11 being swingingly suspended from the walking beam. Preferably the head is provided with an eye 16 with which hoisting tackle may be connected when it is desired to assemble the beam hanger on the walking beam or remove it therefrom.

Any suitable means may be provided operable by relative-swinging of the stem sections to effectrotation of the polish rod and such means, in this instance, are constructed as follows: The lower portion 17 of the section 11 preferably constitutes a leg that extends at an angle to the upper portion therethe section 11, 12

of and overlaps the lower section 12and .is provided at its lower end with a pawl or pawls 18 which are pivoted at 19 to the section 11. The pawls 18 are adapted to engage teeth 20 formed in the upper face of a rotatably mounted member 21. In the present instance the teeth 20 arein several concentric series, there being a. series for each of the pawls, and the teeth of the different series are in staggered relation and the progressive arrangement of the teeth is such that only one of the teeth is engaged by a pawl at one time and the several pawls engage the teeth successively. Thus, if the teeth in each series are spaced, for example, half an inch apart, and there are four series of'tceth, approximately one-eighth of an inch peripheral movement of the mem ber 21 will be effected by each of the pawls 18 if the extent of the movement of thepawls is lessthan one-half inch.

The'member 21 is rotatably mounted on the stem section 12 by reason of said sec-- tion having a nut 22 at its lower end and there being a bearing 23 between said nut and the upper end wall 24 of a recess 25 formedin the member 21,-said recess accommodating-the nut. 22 and bearing 23;

It may be desirable, in some instances, to

positively prevent reverse rotation of the member 21, though friction between theplunger and pump barrel and between. the I liquid and sucker rods is ordinarily sufficientto prevent such reverse rotatlon', and

' for this-reason a dog or dogs 26 are pivoted at 27 to the lowersection 12.- When it is desired to throw any one or all of the pawls 18 and dogs 26 out of engagement with the teeth 20, the said pawls and dogs may be swung upwardly and engaged with racks 28 which, in this instance, are-U-shape and constructed of wire and have their opposite ends passing through the pivots on the pawls and dogs. The racks 28 project laterally from the pivots 19, 27.

- The lower portion of the member 21 is provided with a slot 29 and with a pin 30 y'which extends across said slot, the projecting ends of said pin being provided with cotter pins 31 to prevent the pin 30 slipping out of the member 21.

It is to be understood that any suitable means may be provided connecting the member 21 to the cable, indicated at d in Fig. 1 and, in this instance, said means is entrance or exit of the cable (1, but when the members 32 are closed'together, the cable rests in both hooks and each hook will prevent removal of the cable from the other, as

the backs of the hooks are on opposite sides of thecable. The cable (1 which is not a part of the present invention, is connected with the polish rod 0 by any suitable grip e.

The invention operates as follows: In this particular instance, the parts are arranged to effect rotation of the polish rod 0n the downstroke of the walking beam and on the upstroke of the walking beam the polish rod-is not rotated. The rotary motion is thus intermittent. Assuming that theparts are in the positions indicated in Figs." 1 and 2, it will be noted that the walking beam is at the top of its stroke. As the walking beam swings downwardly, the portion 17 is caused to describe an are about the-fulcrum ofthe walking beam'in a direction opposite to that indicated by the small arrow'in Fig. 2 thus moving the pivots 19 v of the pawls :18 toward the toothed member 21 so as to lengthen the horizontal dis tance from the pivots 19-to vertical planes 1 positioned at the free ends of. the pawls,

causing the plate 21 to rotate to the left in Fig. 2. After the walking beam reaches the lower limit .of its stroke, it swings upwardly, thus forcing the pawls in a'direction indicated by thearrow in Fig; 2, the' teeth 20 being shaped to catch the pawls 18, thereby eiiecting rotation of the member 21. It will be seen that comparatively slight relative swinging between the sections 11,

12 will produce intermittent rotary motion of the member 21.

If it be not desired to effect rotation of the polish rod, the pawls 18 will be thrown out of engagement and rested upon the rack 28. Then rotation of the polish rod is not effected, there is still a decided advantage in having the sectional stem with apivotal connection for, on the downstroke of the walking beam, the stuffing box will tend to hold the section 12 in axial alignment with said stuffing box and polish rod while the pump plunger is forced downwardly by the weightof' the sucker rods and superposed liquids, the section '11 will then simply follow the section 12 without bending the polfaces or stops 14 there is sufficient relative motion of the sections 11. 12 to effect rotation of the member 21.

Since the members 32 cannot swing open when the cable d is resting in the hooks, it may be of advantage in some'instances to prevent the cables jumping upwardly in the hooks and for this reason the hooks are each provided on their outer edges with a pair of ears 36, the ends of each pair being on opposite sides of the cable, and passing through each pair of ears is a cotter pin 37 so that the cable will lie between the members 32 and the cotter pins 37.

-In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 5, the parts that functionally correspond to those described above are indicated by the same reference characters with the addition of the letter a. Inthis form of the invention, the under faces of the head 13 are convex so. as to facilitate the rocking of the section 11 on the walking beam. In order to prevent a great degree of rocking of the member 11* relative to the walking beam that would prevent such movement movement of the section 12 in the opposite direction.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the fiat faces 14 serve as stops to'limit swinging of the section 11 and, in Fig. 5, a stop 14* projects from the section 1.1 and engages the rear wall of the slot 1) of the walking beam. The stop 14 is in the form of a pin and is adjustably mounted, being slidably mounted in a hole 33, and a set screw 34 in the member 11 engages the stop 14 to hold it in adjusted position. The lower portion of this modified form is the same as in Figs. 1 to 4.

Asthe walking beam moves 'on its upstroke, the stop 14 functions the same as the face 14 in Fig.2 to limit swinging in the direction of the small arrow, thus insuring the requisite amount of relative motion betweenthemembers 11, 12 to actuate the pawl 18*.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 6, the parts are the same as those illus- "the addition of the letter b. The lower portion of this modified form is the same as in Figs. 1 to 4.

In the form of the invention illustrated a in Fig. 7. the parts that function thesame as those described in Figs- 1 to 4 are indicated by thesame reference characters with the addition of the letter 0, and itwill be noted that the pivot 15 is eccentric to the longitudinal axis of the stem so that as the walking beam starts on its downstroke the arm 17 will move in the direction of the small arrow, thus engaging the pawl 18". in

the teeth 20, resulting in the rotation of the polish rod. A spring 36 is secured at one end to the section 11 and the other end engages beneath a bridge 37 on the section will be taken ofl of the walking beam,

turned through an angle of 180 degrees and then replaced on the walking beam in the new position.

I claim 2* 1. A beam hanger comprising -a stem having upper and lower sections pivotally connected, one of said sections being provided with means to suspend it from a walking beam. the other section being provided with means to connect it with a polish rod and means operable by relative swingin in one direction between the sections to e ect rotation of a polish rod.

2. A beam hanger comprising a stem having upper and lower sections pivotally connected, one of said sections being provided with means to suspend it from a walking beam, the other section being provided with means to connect it with a polish rod and means operable by relative swinging between the sections to effect intermittent rotary movement of a polish rod.

3. A beam hanger comprising a stem having upper and lower sections pivotally connected, one of said sections being provided with means to suspend it from a walking beam, the other section being provided with means to connect it with a polish rod and means operable by relative swin ing between the sections to effect intermittent rotary movement of a polish rod in one direction.

4. A beam hanger comprising a stem having upper and lower sections pivotally connected, one-of said sections being provided with means to suspend it from a walking beam, a toothed member rotatably mounted on one of thesections, and a pawl pivoted to the other section and adapted to mtermittently actuate the toothed member as the walking beam operates.

5. A beam hanger comprising a stem 'having upper and lower sections pivotally ates, and a dog pivoted to the first menconnected, one of said sections being protioned section and holding the toothed mem- 10 vided with means to suspend it from 3, her against rotation in the opposite direc walking beam, a toothed member rotatably tion When the pawl is being retracted. mounted on one of the sections, a pawl Signed at Los Angeles, California, this pivoted to the other section and adapted to 31st day of March, 1925. intermittently actuate the toothed member in one direction as the alking beam oper- JAMES P. RATIGAN.- 

